Where Do Broken Hearts Go?
by IAmPhoenix
Summary: Leah's heart had been broken, no crushed, into a million irreparable pieces. She'd lost the love of her life to someone that was like a sister to her, then her father dies, and if that's not enough, she's thrust into a life that she never wanted. She just can't seem to catch a break. Just when she thought all hope was lost, she finds him. Her imprint. This is their story. Leah/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight but I do own all OCs.**

**A/N: I am not really a Leah fan (even though she's kinda growing on me...but shhhhh). This was actually written as a thank you for a dear friend of mine, Liv, who happens to be Team Leah. She has been there for me through a lot and I am forever grateful for her. Love you Livvy. I'll update as often as I can. Please read, review and follow. Thanks :-)**

Chapter One

~Leah's POV~

Part of me wanted to be happy for them, but I couldn't. He had been mine first and I had been his. We were happy. We were in love. She had no right. She was my cousin. She was my blood, he was my soul and together they had destroyed me. I now know they had no control of over it, but that doesn't take away the pain and it doesn't make it any better in my eyes. If anything it made things worse. Then as if life hadn't screwed me enough, I was thrown into this forsaken world of wolfism with _him_ as my alpha. Forced to be around them, forced to hear his constant thoughts of her, forced to be under his command, his control, what I felt like was his disposal. But what irritated me most was that I was forced to be near _her_ with her sickly sweet attitude that was almost as bad as the stench of those filthy bloodsuckers. I glared at Jacob as he lay sprawled across the floor snoring like a hibernating bear. Why couldn't he just assume his role as alpha? I didn't like the idea of taking orders from a kid, but I'd rather listen to Jake than to Sam.

Under no control of mine, my eyes flittered to the kitchen. There they stood, wrapped up in each other's arms like there was no one else on this earth besides them. He stared into her eyes with a look of love and adoration. It made me want to gag. He never looked at me that way. Emily's gaze met mine and her faced flushed red, a look of sorrow and concern replacing her smile. Sam turned to see what had caught her attention. His gaze lasted all of two seconds as he moved Emily further in front of him and out of my view. My stomach knotted and I felt the familiar sting of tears in my eyes. I let out a heavy sigh as I lifted myself from the tattered arm chair. Paul glanced up at me with an irritated glare, as though he had heard my every thought. I rolled my eyes and pushed a loose strand of hair from my face.

"Going for a run," I mumbled. My voice cracked and I instantly regretted saying anything. I hated when people saw my emotions. I quickly made my way to the door, pushing through the screen with such force that it bounced against the frame three time before coming to a stop.

"Let her go." I heard Sam say, well command. He was probably talking to Seth because I knew neither Paul nor Emily would be concerned about me heading out alone this late and Jake had been "dead" to the world for the past several hours.

I could feel the tears starting to spill down my cheeks so I immediately phased into wolf form, not even bothering to remove my clothes. I just wanted the tears to stop. Crying made me feel weak. I'd cried twice in my life that I could remember, once when Sam left me and once when my father died. Crying was for the weak, and I Leah Clearwater, was anything but weak. As soon as I phased, I could feel Quil and Embry's thoughts merge with mine. They were on patrol tonight.

_Shit. I should've ran in the other direction. _

_Hey Leah. Where you headed?_ That was Embry. I could hear his paws in the distant and his thoughts were louder than Quil's, who was wondering what Claire was doing.

_I'm sure she's sleeping idiot. She's three and it's after midnight. _I thought. _I try to get away from one fool and his imprint and get stuck listening to the thoughts of another with his perverted obsession over a toddler._

_What's your fucking problem?_ - Quil.

I could see a red film starting to cover his vision as he turned and ran in the opposite direction of his patrol area. I could see familiar images of things around Sam and Emily's house. He was looking for me and he was angry, but I didn't give not a single solitary fuck.

_You idiots._ - Me

_Leah that was uncalled for. You know Quil's thoughts about Claire are anything but perverted. _ - Embry

_Fuck off. Both of you. And Sam too. _- Me

I ran harder and faster than I'd ever run in my life. I needed to get away from them. I wasn't scared, I just wasn't in the mood for a fight either. I just needed to be alone with my thoughts for the first time in months. Even when we weren't in wolf form, everybody was always looking at me like they knew what I was thinking. And most of their assumptions were probably right. My every thought was consumed with Sam, Emily and the hole they'd left where my heart should have been.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I hadn't intended on uploading Chapter Two until later this week, but Liv read "her" story and demanded that I update now...pushy beast. So here it is...Enjoy! I'll update again when I get 5 reviews. :-)**

Chapter Two

~Emily's POV~

Our eyes met and my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. The smile faded from my face as I noticed tears in her eyes. It pained me to see Leah so unhappy. Despite the circumstances, I love her and I never meant to do anything to hurt her. She was, well is, my cousin after all. The imprint was something that neither Sam nor I could take back...Although sometimes, just to ease her pain, I wish I could. Not to say that I don't love Sam and our life together, I just hate seeing people hurting, especially people that I love. But we had to accept the hand that fate dealt us, no matter how unfair some of us felt it was.

I tried to go after her when she bolted from the house, but Sam stopped me. I didn't see what good a run would do her, if more than a year hadn't changed her feelings about the situation. I just wanted the chance to talk to her. To get her to see things from my point of view. I had tried before, but since she didn't know about imprinting, it was pointless. At the time, it wasn't my secret to share. But now that she had phased, I thought she'd understand, be a little more forgiving, but she hadn't budged. She was still as angry as she was when she found out. In her mind, I was and always would be the one that ruined her life.

I placed my hands on Sam's chest and gently pushed him away. A look of hurt and concern flashed in his eyes. Raising my hand, I softly stroked the left side of his face and smiled, assuring him that I was fine.

"I need to make something for Embry and Quil to eat," I said pointing at the clock. "Their patrol ends in thirty minutes and I refuse to let them come in here half asleep trying to cook. They might burn down the house."

Sam nodded and took a seat at the table. His eyes focused on me as I stood staring into the fridge wondering what to cook for the hungry wolf boys that would come thundering through the front door in the next few minutes. Sighing at the meager contents of the fridge, I decided on sandwiches. I would definitely have to go shopping tomorrow.

After making nearly forty turkey, ham and salami sandwiches and two pitchers of lemonade, I grabbed two family sized bags of chips from the pantry and placed them on the table as well. If this wasn't enough, Sam would just have to make them something else. It was nearly three in the morning and I was beyond tired. My bed was calling and my body was more than willing to answer that call.

"Paul, Seth are you guys hungry?" I asked. They had been so quiet that I had forgotten that they were even there.

"Nope," Paul replied, holding up a stack of empty pizza boxes in one of his massive hands.

I laughed, remembering seeing him hide the pizzas under the couch before he went out for his patrol with Seth and Sam earlier.

Seth just shook his head and stared blankly out the window. I knew he was worried about his sister. Worry lines creased his forehead, making him look slightly older than his fifteen years. I hated to see someone so young and dear to my heart carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. And in a way, it was all my fault.

Removing my apron, I folded it neatly and draped it over the back of the chair. I gave Sam a gentle kiss on the lips, said my good nights to Paul and Seth then headed to bed. It had been a long day and I was happy that it was finally over.

~Leah's POV~

I don't know where I was going and at that moment, I didn't care. I just wanted to go. Far, far away. Where my thoughts were mine and mine alone. Where there was no sadistic ex-boyfriend alpha to bark commands at me, no pack to judge me and no man stealing cousin to rub her happiness in my face. Where I could be free to whine, sulk and scream without anyone getting annoyed.

I looked around, wondering how far I'd run and I barely recognized anything around me. I could hear the rush of water to the north so I assumed that I was somewhere near the edge of the state. I debated heading to Canada, but changed my mind. I hadn't told my mom that I'd be leaving and I didn't want to worry her. She was dealing with enough already. I slowed my pace, as I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts. It was pretty here. A thick layer of snow coated the ground, sparkling under the moonlight like pretty flecks of glitter on a blanket of soft cotton. I came to a stop in a clearing and just as I was about to phase back, I remembered that I hadn't bother to take off my clothes first. I let out a small whimper as I settled myself on a huge boulder that sat to my left. The cold wouldn't bother me, I just didn't want to be naked sitting on a rock.

I stared at the moon and howled. A gut wrenching, soul bearing howl from the depths of my core. The kind of howl that always got me dirty looks from the rest of the pack. If I could cry in wolf form I think my fur would be matted to my face by now. It wouldn't have mattered to me though. I was alone. I let out another howl, this one louder and filled with more pain than the first. To my surprise it was returned with a howl. A faint howl, but a howl nonetheless. My ears perked up and I jumped up from my reclining position. A low growl erupted from deep inside of me and jaw clenched tightly, baring my teeth. I listened for footsteps or any indication that something or someone was coming to attack. I was met with silence. Maybe I just imagined the howl.

_Holy fuck Leah, get a grip. You're driving yourself insane._ I thought to myself, lowering my body back down to the rock. I rested my head on my paws. Thoughts of my dad entered my mind. I smiled and a warm sensation entered my heart. Thinking about my dad was bittersweet. Old memories could make the Sam/Emily pain disappear for just a moment, but as soon as I ran out of memories, the pain returned. Replaced by one that was even more soul crushing than the betrayal. The pain of knowing that there would be no more Christmases, or bon fires, no walking me down the aisle on my wedding day, if that day ever came that is. No more fishing trips for Seth. No more anything. Just emptiness. Poor Seth. Poor mom. Poor me.

As I lay on the rock, lost in my thoughts, the sound of something or someone behind me snapped me back to reality. I quickly stood up, baring my teeth, low, ferocious growls erupted from within me. The sounds got closer and now I was certain that I wasn't going crazy. I sniffed, trying to catch the scent of whatever was interrupting me. Whoever it was smelled like me, like the rest of my pack. I didn't know there were other shape-shifters in this area. I growled again and jumped down from the boulder I had been perched on for the past few hours. The sounds of huge paws crunching through the snow grew louder. I paused.

What if it attacked me? Nobody knew where I was. Would my body ever be found if it killed me? How would my mom and Seth manage without me? For the first time that I can remember, I was scared. Just as I was about to retreat, a huge white wolf, larger than Sam, emerged from the woods with a small whimper. It bowed down to me, resting its head on its front paws. I slowly back away. It stared at me, still whimpering. Had it heard my thoughts and was trying to assure me that it wasn't a threat? Or was this a trap to get me to let my guard down so that it could go in for the kill?

As I continued to back away, I felt a small tug at my mind, like the wolf was trying to get into my head to hear my thoughts. I resisted, shaking my head and growling at it. The pulling stopped. I stood there for a moment, staring at the wolf. It never left its bowed position at the opening of the forest. A series of distant howls echoed through the silence, interrupting our stare down. The wolf gave me one final stare before standing erect and running off into the night.

I immediately took off in the other direction. I headed back to La Push as fast as my legs would carry me. Back to the comfort of my own dysfunctional, yet protective, pack. The whole run back I couldn't help but wonder...Who was the mystery wolf?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Read and review! Favorite and follow! Please and thank you!**

Chapter Three

~Leah's POV~

As soon as I reached familiar territory, I shifted back to human form. It didn't even matter that I was walking naked through the forest and that the rest of the pack would still be running patrol and could stumble upon me at any time. I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts. I wasn't ready to let anybody know what I had seen, but most importantly, I wasn't in the mood to let anybody see my feelings. They'd seen enough for one night.

I walked to the edge of where the forest met our backyard and searched behind the shed for an extra set of clothes. I always kept a spare set back there, just in case my emotions got the best of me and I phased while fully dressed. I didn't want to have to walk through the house naked. My mom would understand, but she would still ask questions. Questions I wouldn't want to answer. After pulling on the cut offs and tank top, I slowly approached the house, running my fingers along the side of dad's fishing boat that still sat on its trailer in our backyard. I stood there for a second and fingered the intricate gold letters etched into the hull. He'd named it _Leah Maria_. My middle name wasn't Maria, he just like it because it rhymed. All the lights in the house were out except one. I sighed when I realized that it was the light in my dad's "man cave". I stopped at the back of the house, pressing my back against the house, I slid slowly to the ground, closing my eyes and resting my head against the house's wooden frame.

Through the wall I could hear my mother weeping. She was hurting and it was all my fault. She had told me time and time again not to blame myself, but I couldn't help it. It was _my_ mood swings and _my_ argument with her that had caused me to phase right there in our small living room. It was _my_ phasing that had caused my father's heart attack. So regardless of what she said, regardless of how she begged and pleaded for me not to blame myself, I couldn't help it. I couldn't deny it and what hurt the most was that I couldn't take it back. I was the reason my father was dead. I was the reason that her heart was broken. But it wasn't my fault alone.

_Sam! _I snarled. This was partially his fault too. Had he not left for those two weeks, then broken up with me and went on his merry little way with my cousin, I wouldn't have had any mood swings. I would've still been happy. Yes, this was just as much his fault as it was mine. Although the wolf gene was in my DNA, forever embedded in me from the Ateara, Black and Uley bloodlines, his fucked up, selfish actions were the catalyst for my anger, my hurt and ultimately my murdering my father. Sam Uley had single handedly destroyed my entire family. I had so many reasons to hate him, yet part of me still yearned for him.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I stood up and dusted off my shorts before making my way in the house. Mom must've heard me come in because just as I was locking the door, she was making her way into the kitchen.

"I just came in for some water," she smiled sweetly. I could still see the tears rimming her beautiful brown eyes. She walked over to me and pushed my hair behind my ear then cupped my face in her hands. "Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat."

"I'm fine, mom," I mumbled. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her tightly into a hug. "I'm so sorry." I whispered.

"I know, honey. I know." She rubbed my back as I wept softly in her arms.

I released her from my embrace, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. "Is Seth home?" I knew my little brother was probably worried sick about me. He always worried about me, like it was his job or something. After dad had died, Seth eagerly stepped up to be the man of the house. A little too eagerly for my liking. I was the oldest and it was my job to protect him...and my mother, even if he was the last man in the house.

She shook her head. "He's staying with Jacob tonight. They have first shift patrol."

I nodded then kissed her cheek. "I'm going to bed."

I stripped from my clothing and crawled into bed. My mind drifted to the wolf that I'd encountered a few hours ago. It was beautiful. I don't know why I keep calling him an it. I'm the only freak of nature girl wolf in the whole entire world. I shook my head and cuddled my pillow. Regardless of what gender it was, it was beautiful. I'd never seen a wolf with snow white fur. I'd never seen any wolves besides the idiots in my pack and while they were majestic looking I guess, they weren't nearly as beautiful. I wonder what the rest of his pack looked like. I wonder if he'll be there if I go back tomorrow. Maybe I'll imprint on him or he'll imprint on me or maybe it will be somebody from his pack.

_Give it up Leah. You're destined to be alone forever. _I shuddered at the thought. I was determined not to stay alone forever. Imprint or no imprint. I would have a mate.

At that moment I decided to return to that exact spot tomorrow night. Maybe my luck would change. Maybe I could be happy again. Maybe this wolf was the key to finding the glue to make me whole again. Maybe.

~Canon's POV~

_I'm coming. I'm coming. Don't get your knickers in a knot._ I thought as I ran back to my pack. I was the alpha yet they were commanding me to return to them. Maybe I shouldn't have run off like that, but I couldn't resist. Something about the pain in her howls made me want to go to her. To comfort and protect her.

_Comfort and protect? How could you be that stupid? _My beta, Kyle, screamed. His thunderous voice echoed through my thoughts. I growled. _Sorry man, but that was dumb. She could've attacked you._

_She was two hundred yards away._ I scoffed as I raced through the trees to find him. _Besides, I'm at least two feet taller and about a hundred pounds heavier. I would've ripped her to shreds before she had a chance to blink._

_What was she like? How did she smell? Show her to me again. I can't believe there's another female wolf. I thought I was the odd woman out. I wonder what tribes she's from. Are you going to go find her? Can I go with you next time you look for her? I wonder what she looks like in her human form. Come on Canon, show her to me again. Her wolf is so pretty. I wonder if she'd like me._ That was Ashley, my little sister and the newest member of our tiny pack.

_Enough Ashley._ I commanded. As usual, her thoughts were nonstop and annoying the piss out of me. The bass in my voice caused me to flinch as it vibrated through my thoughts. I hated using my alpha voice with my pack, especially her. But I knew it was the only way to get her to shut up. She was so damn fragile that any and everything made her cry. I hated when that any and everything was me.

A soft whimper echoed through my head then I felt her thoughts leave. I knew she'd phased back to her human form and if she'd phased back, that meant she was crying or very close to it. I let out a heavy sigh before seeking the cover of a huge pine tree and shifting back to human form.

Pulling my shorts from my leg, I quickly slipped them back on. I'd never thought to do that until I saw this huge russet colored wolf a few months back running through the forest near our house with a pair of cut offs attached to his leg. Since that day I'd adopted the habit and saved myself a lot of money since I didn't have to replace my clothes that often now.

"Ashley, where are you?" She ignored me. I knew she was within distance and even if she wasn't, her sensitive wolf ears would pick up my voice for at least a mile. "Come on Ash, shift back. We got a long run home and I'm not carrying you!"

I snarled and kicked a nearby tree. A huge chunk of bark flew from the trunk. Kyle emerged from the trees a few yards in front of me. He jerked his head to the east, indicating the last direction he'd seen Ashley in before he went back into the forest to phase and get dressed.

I walked about fifty feet to the east and found my sister sitting at the base of a pine tree with her knees pulled to her chest, tears streaming down her face. Running my hands across my shortly cropped black hair, I took a seat next to her. She looked so helpless and pitiful sitting in the foot deep snow in nothing but a t-shirt and some shorts.

"Stop crying kiddo." I gently nudged her with my shoulder. She didn't even look at me. "Look, if you're going to run with the pack, you're going to have to toughen the hell up. I know this is all new to you but this is your life now and you've either gotta sink or swim."

I tried to go a little easy on her. She'd only been dealing with being a wolf for less than a week. I, on the other hand, had phased six years ago, three weeks after my sixteenth birthday. She was only twelve.

"But you yelled at me." She mumbled. "You've never yelled at me."

"It's a dog eat dog world," I shrugged, laughing at my own joke. Ashley didn't find it amusing. "Ash, I'm sorry, but I'm the alpha and I'm going to yell and get mad and all that other stuff. When we're in wolf form, I'm your leader before I'm anything else to you. All that big brother stuff goes out the window. I'll give my life to protect you but I can't baby you. So if you can't handle this then we're just going to have to leave you at Gram's."

Ashley looked up at me, quickly wiping her eyes with her hands. "I don't want to stay at Gram's. I like running with you and Kyle and even Max's annoying butt. Don't make me stay with Gram. I promise I'll stop asking so many questions."

"Ok, now phase back so we can head home." I gave her a quick hug before running back behind a tree and phasing back to my wolf. At the same time I emerged, so did a tiny red wolf. Standing roughly five feet tall, she looked more like a fox than a wolf when compared to my eight foot frame.

Ashley snarled at my thought and lunged for me. She crashed head first into my leg then bounced back and landed on her side. She growled at me like it was my fault. She was small and pretty fast, but she still needed to get her strength up. I let out a loud wolfy laugh and took off towards the Canadian border. Home sweet home, here we come.

_**Another A/N: Thank you to: , CharNinja LOL, NaeNaeLu, DianaB17, Umbra8191, MadameShari, Misses Norris, Musicality101, Vannah123, WolfsDen, bad-princess400, cyr1988 and stupiderakun for the reviews, favorites and follows. I greatly appreciate it.**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

~Leah's POV~

This was the third night in a row that I'd come back here, waiting for him. And this was the third night in a row that he hadn't showed. Maybe he had been a figment of my imagination. Just a cryptic dream that I'd somehow managed to force myself to believe was real. It felt real. He'd looked real. And smelled real. I could still smell him when I closed my eyes and concentrated really hard. It was lovely musky smell with hints of cedar, apple and a touch of cinnamon. I couldn't imagine something that vivid. A picture maybe, but not that smell. It was like nothing that I'd ever smelled before. The possibility of that being fake was slim to none.

Either way, this would be the last night that Sam would let me skip patrol even if the other guys kept volunteering to take my shift. I don't know if it was the fact that they wanted to see me happy or if they just wanted to get away from my depressing thoughts, but Jared, Jacob and even Paul happily volunteered to take my shifts for the past three nights. Before I had left, Sam made it known that this was my last chance to get what I was searching for. I don't know if he was doing that save me from the embarrassment of coming here night after night, waiting for someone that may never show or if he didn't want to see me get hurt. This was Sam we were talking about, he was definitely trying to save me from embarrassment because he had already proven that he didn't care if I got hurt or not.

_Maybe he's right. Maybe you are embarrassing yourself. It's dumb for you to keep coming back here anyways. Happiness just isn't meant for you. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be. _I growled at the thought.

But maybe it was true. Maybe it just wasn't in the stars for me to be happy. When I look back at the events of my life, it seemed to be true. I could never win at anything. In third grade I wanted to play the part of the sun in the school play, Shari Littlesea got it instead. Eleventh grade, I lost homecoming queen by three votes. After than I lost Sam to Emily, then I lost my dad. Now this. My life is pretty damn pathetic. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

I let out a soft whimper and jumped from the bolder I'd been resting on for the past two hours. No sooner than I'd turned to leave, I felt a slight tug at my mind. My heart beat quickened as a wolfy grin spread across my face. I quickly closed my eyes and concentrated just like Jake had told me to. He said once I was fully focused, I'd be able to let another wolf, outside of our pack, merge with my mind. Nothing happened. I closed my eyes tighter and focused on his scent, his fur, the possibility of him being mine forever. Then it happened. I heard a popping sound, followed by the most melodious voice I'd ever heard.

_Hey! I'm about a mile away. Don't leave please._ A heavenly voice permeated my thoughts.

It took every ounce of will power in my body not to do a back flip. I couldn't believe that he'd shown up. My wait was over.

_Don't think anything stupid Leah. He can hear you._ - Me

_Yeah I can hear you. _He laughed.

I whimpered. _Way to go dummy. Just embarrass yourself why don't you._

Another laugh.

_Shut up, Leah. You're making an ass of yourself._ - Me

_Should I leave you two alone?_ - Him

_No! _- Me

_Just checking. _He laughed again.

I paced nervously, staring out into the trees, waiting for him to emerge. My stomach was doing somersaults. I could smell him before I saw him. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. His scent was just as wonderful as I'd remembered. A sweet musky scent with hints of cedar, apple and cinnamon. He smelled even better than I'd remembered. And when he came into view, my heart stopped. He was more beautiful than I remembered him being.

I slowly walked over to him, he met me half way. I stopped three feet in front of him and stared into his eyes. Just like the rest of him, they were beautiful. I'd never seen anything like them before. The left one was pale, icy blue with a darker blue near the pupil and the right one was a light shade of green. They were the most gorgeous eyes I'd ever had the pleasure of staring into. In wolf form, he towered over me by more than two and a half feet. That made me wonder how tall he was in his human form. He moved closer and nuzzled against my neck, inhaling my scent as though he was trying to etch it into his memory just as I had done his.

_I-I-I'm Leah. Leah Clearwater._ His beauty had me so mesmerized that I could barely speak.

_I'm Canon Yellowbird. It's nice to finally meet you Leah Clearwater._

_Can you phase to human form? _I was anxious to see what he looked like..

_Sure. Let me ummmm...yeah. I'll be right back._

I found a tree to phase behind, quickly untying the clothes from my leg, I slipped the dress over my head, pulled on the shorts then stepped back into the clearing. His back was to me, but I could see that he had slipped on a pair of black sweat pants. They sat low on his hips. Waves of perfect muscles cascaded down his back and arms looking as though they'd been skillfully sculpted throughout the years by the world's most talented artist. His skin was a warm copper color, slightly lighter than mine and his jet black hair was closely cropped to his head, a little shorter than the guys in my pack. I softly cleared my throat and he turned around, my jaw dropped. He was gorgeous. His chin had a slight dimple in it that perfectly accentuated his thick lips and strong jaw line, his nose was the most perfect nose I had ever seen. Not too big and not too small or wide, it fit his face just perfectly.

I lifted my head and stared into his eyes, ready to face my destiny. Nothing. Not a tingle nor a tinge of anything. I moved closer to him just to make sure that this distance wasn't the issue. Still nothing. I felt absolutely nothing. What the fuck?!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

~Canon's POV~

I'd been trying to get back to her for the past three days, but Ashley needed me more. She'd gotten upset with Gram and phased in front of her, breaking two lamps, a table and a chair in the process. For someone so small, she could do a lot of damage. Gram wasn't hurt, shaken up almost to the point of inconsolable, but not hurt. She knew about the legends, Gramps had even been a shifter, she knew about my first time phasing but Ashley was the first of her kind. The first female from the Makah tribe to shift.

While Gram wasn't injured, Ashley on the other hand was so upset that she'd run off and it took me and Kyle two days to find her. Somehow she'd figured out how to set up a mental shield that neither of us could penetrate. Anytime we tried we were met with the burning sensation of a thousand fires. Yes, we ran hot, a steamy one hundred and eleven degrees to be exact, but this was a full on, excruciating fire that burned all the way down to the bones. The kind of pain that stopped you in your tracks and took your breath away. The kind of pain that landed Kyle on his ass a few more times than he'd like to remember or admit for that matter. After the first few times, the pain, which seemed to last for hours, became unbearable and we stopped trying to reach her mentally and focused on our ground search.

When we finally did find Ash, she was curled up in a cave, refusing to come out or shift back into human form. I had to half-carry, half-drag her nearly eighty miles back home by the scruff of her neck.

When I finally got the chance, I made my way back to the U.S. to find her. I was so happy when I smelled her. My wolf. I concentrated on her scent as hard as I could as I attempted to merge our minds. I hoped she wouldn't shut me out this time.

_Hey! I'm about a mile away. Don't leave please._ - Me

I was so happy that she was still there. I quickened my pace, excited to finally see her after what felt like an eternity.

_Don't think anything stupid Leah. He can hear you._ - Her

_Yeah I can hear you. _I laughed.

She whimpered. _Way to go dummy. Just embarrass yourself why don't you._

I laughed. She was very amusing to say the least.

_Shut up, Leah. You're making an ass of yourself._ - Her

_Should I leave you two alone?_ - Me

_No! _- Her

_Just checking. _I laughed again, just as I stepped into the clearing.

I held my breath. She was absolutely breathtaking. I hadn't got a look at her the other night, but now I was able to take in and appreciate her full beauty. She was various shades of gray, with small tinges of brown around her ears and across her head. Her warm brown eyes could melt even the coldest of hearts. I was in love.

_I-I-I'm Leah. Leah Clearwater._ It was cute the way she stuttered.

_I'm Canon Yellowbird. It's nice to meet you Leah Clearwater._ - Me

_Can you phase to human form? _She asked. I was more than happy to oblige. I couldn't wait to see the beauty beneath this magnificent beast so to speak.

_Sure. Let me ummmm...yeah. I'll be right back._ - Me

I made my way back to the clearing before she did and out of respect, I kept my back turned to the direction she'd run off in. With my wolf vision, I didn't want to accidentally see something that I wasn't meant to see. She cleared her throat and I turned around. As soon as I saw her, it hit me.

Like a million tiny rays of sunshine pulsating through my body, she consumed me. At that moment, nothing else mattered. Not my pack, not my family, just her. I'd do anything for her and be anything that she needed me to be. I don't know how I'd remotely felt alive these past twenty-two years because at that moment I felt like she had just breathed life into me. Everything that held me to this earth suddenly melted away and all that was left was her. Her essence consumed my entire being. She was what held me to the very spot I stood in. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. All I could do was stare. All I could do was think about her. And even though she was right there in front of me, she consumed my every thought. I wanted, no, I had to keep her safe and happy even if it killed me. She was now my reason for being. She was mine and I was hers. Forever.

I tried to speak but no words came out. A million thoughts ran through my head. Was she cold? Was she hungry? Was she thirsty? Could she find her way back home safely?

"Are you alright?" she asked softly as she approached me.

I simply nodded, unable to find the words to say to the beautiful creature that had become my imprint. I never thought that I would find her. Not that I had been looking or anything and not that I was completely opposed to the idea, I just never put too much thought into the whole imprinting thing. That was the one part of being a wolf that I hated. I didn't want to belong to anyone but myself and I didn't want anyone to feel like they were my property. I enjoyed my freedom...Well, that was until I met her. Now the last thing that I wanted was to be free. She had captured me and I was beyond happy to be her prisoner.

"Are you sure?" Her eyes held a slight tinge of hurt in them. Could she feel the bond already or did I have to explain it to her? No, she was a wolf. I didn't need to explain. Then why did she look so sad?

"I-I'm fine," I stuttered. I took two steps forward, completely closing the gap between us. "Are you? Are you hurt? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?" I gently took her arm and looked her over, making sure she hadn't hurt herself on the way here. An injury was the only thing I could see that would keep her from feeling the same extreme joy that I was feeling right now.

She smiled and shook her head. "Everything is perfect...now."

"Do you feel it too?"

Slowly raising her hand to my face, she gently stroked my cheek. I shuddered under her touch. She stared into my eyes and nodded. "At first I didn't and that scared me, but the closer you came, the deeper I looked into your eyes..." Her shaky voice trailed off.

A single tear rolled down her cheek and I wiped it away. She smiled. I don't know why but I felt as though I had just wiped away years of pain and suffering in that one single tear. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I pulled her into my chest and held on to her like I was afraid she'd be blown away by some mysterious wind. Her arms held onto me even tighter. And together we stood in the middle of an open field, nearly knee deep in snow without a care in the world but each other.

~Leah's POV~

It finally happened. I was scared for a moment. I hadn't felt the earth shattering, heart stopping, mind blowing, cloud surfing feeling that Quil had described. I really didn't feel much of anything. My body felt warmer than it usually did and there was a slight tingle in my heart but that was all. The harder I stared into his eyes, the more I felt drawn to him. Like I needed to love him and he needed me to love him even more. Then I realized it. He had imprinted on me. My mind flashed to Sam. I felt nothing. The ties had finally been broken. I could finally go back to being happy Leah and most importantly...I would finally have Emily back. That last part made me hug Canon even tighter.

"Where do you live?" I asked, reluctantly breaking our embrace. I wanted to know everything about him. I led him over to the huge boulder so that we could sit and talk. He helped me on top of it, not that I needed it, then sat cross legged in front of me. Our fingers intertwined and we sat there staring into each other's eyes before he finally answered.

"Cree Reservation in Canada. About sixty miles north of here. You?"

"The La Push Reservation. It's about forty miles southwest. I didn't know the Crees were shifters too."

"I'm only part Cree," he explained. "My Gram is full Cree, Gramps was Makah. The gene comes from him."

"Do you have any family, you know, besides your Gram?"

"It's just me, my little sister Ashley, my Gram and Kyle." He took a deep breath before he continued. "My mom died ten years ago. I never knew my dad and Ashley's dad skipped out on my mom right after Ash was born."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "I'm at peace with it now. Gram did a good job raising me and I'd like to think I'm doing a good job raising Ash."

"Do they know about you being a wolf?"

"Gram knew from my birth that I'd probably phase, Gramps was a shifter and supposedly this mysterious father of mine was from a long line of shifters. Nobody will give me too much information on him though so I can't say for sure what tribe he's from or if any of that is even true. And Ash phased a few weeks ago." he stated.

I couldn't believe my ears. "Your sister? There's another female wolf? How old is she? When can I meet her? What does she look like?" I had a million questions for him and her. I was relieved that I wasn't a weirdo anymore.

"Geesh, calm down. You sound just like her with all these questions." He laughed. "She's twelve, I'm kinda worried about her because I don't know anybody else that phased that early. There was a coven of bloodsuckers in the area that we couldn't seem to catch and I guess nature felt that my three man pack wasn't enough to handle them. Ash shifted one day when she was in the woods behind our house, checking the maple taps for Gram. But that's her story to tell, not mine. You'll get to meet her very soon. She can be a lot to take in at once, a little ummm... over zealous you could say."

His eyes sparkled when he talked about her. I wondered if they'd sparkle like that when he told people about me.

"Twelve?" I frowned. "I shifted earlier this year right before I turned twenty and I had a hard time dealing with it. I can't imagine what she's going through. "What does she look like?"

"She's a tiny little thing. I tease her about looking more like a fox than a wolf. Her wolf's only about five feet tall, she has fire red fur and she's fast. I mean like really fast. What she lacks in strength, she definitely makes up for in speed. Human form, she's even more of a runt." he laughed. "Only about four and a half feet tall, kinda scrawny with auburn hair and hazel eyes."

"I can't wait to meet her." I was still blown away that there was someone else like me. I decided at that moment that I would take her under my wings and help her deal with this curse. Not that I'd handled my own phasing that well. We could stumble through it together I guess. And I could see how important she was Canon so that made her equally important to me.

"Soon enough. She's dealing with a lot right now. She got into a huge argument with Gram and couldn't quite control herself, before she knew it she'd phased and destroyed a few things in the process. She ran off for a few days, which is why it took me so long to get here. Me and Kyle had to look for her. We found her last night in a cave. I had to carry her back home by her scruff because she refused to come out. She still hasn't phased back yet. She's in Gram's shed moping around."

I covered my mouth and my mind immediately went to my dad then Emily. I knew all too well the damage that could be done when you phased in front of loved ones out of anger. I hoped his Gram was ok. "Did your Gram get hurt?"

He shook his head and I sighed. "Just some broken furniture thankfully. I don't know what I would've done if..." His voice trailed off.

I rubbed his hand, knowing exactly what his thoughts were. If only I or even Sam had thought about the consequences beforehand.

"Enough about the everybody else," he whispered, gently stroking my cheek. "Tell me more about you."

And that's exactly what I did until the sun came up.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Aaaaahhhh! I know it's been forever. Please forgive me. *insert sad puppy dog face here* I lost focus and got distracted by some things... but here's Chapter Six! There MIGHT be some small changes made to some of the previous chapters instead of me deleting and rewriting the whole story, but the changes won't be anything major. I'll try to point them out in future A/Ns. I've also been working on a Jacob/OC story that I'm so in love with...so read that one too. Check my profile...It's called Saving Grace. **

Chapter Six

~Jacob's POV~

It took everything in me not to laugh at Sam's irritated thoughts about Leah and the new man in her life. He tried hard to hide them but every few minutes her face would flash into his mind, then a red film would cover his vision. After what he'd done to her, he had no right to be mad, even if the imprint wasn't something he could control. He had moved on and now she it was her turn. The way I saw it, it was fair exchange, no robbery.

_Jake, you can head back to the house. Embry and Quil should be headed this way. I have a few errands to run for the Elders so tell Emily I'll be home late. - Sam_

_No problem. - Me_

I found it odd that he had "errands" to run for the Elders. Their errands normally involved vampires. The Cullens to be exact. And I knew that Sam wouldn't go see them alone, not even for the Elders. I was always the "chosen" one. Part of me wanted to follow him, but a bigger part of me longed to be on two legs again. I had covered Leah's shift before doing my own and after twelve hours in wolf form I was in desperate need of food, a shower and a bed.

Just as I was finishing my last lap around the perimeter, I picked up vampire stink. It wasn't one of the Cullens, there stench was unfortunately forever etched in my brain. This was someone new and since we hadn't received notice of anyone showing up, it was someone uninvited. I let out an urgent howl, letting my pack brothers know that I might need backup as I made my way towards the stink.

_What's up Jake? - Embry_

_Picked up a new leech stink in the area. - Me_

_Where are you? - Embry_

_How many? - Quil_

_Just one so far. I'm on the Western border headed towards the Cullen house. That's where the scent is the strongest. - Me_

I made it to the Cullen house, stopping where their front yard met the woods. Whoever it was was inside the house. Quil and Embry joined me a few seconds later.

_We going in? - Embry_

_I'm going in. You guys hang out here just incase somebody else decides to stop by. - Me_

I trotted off behind a tree to phase and pull on the cut offs I had strapped to my hind leg.

As I approached the house, Carlisle met me on the front porch.

"Hello Jacob," he inclined his head and gave me weak smile.

"Carlisle." I returned the gesture with a friendly nod and smile of my own. As much as I wanted to hate the bloodsuckers, I couldn't. Although I'd never admit it, they had grown on me, especially Carlisle and Esme. They were nearly impossible to hate.

"Sorry we didn't tell you that we were expecting visitors," he began, already knowing why I was there. "Alice didn't see them coming until shortly before they arrived. They have been advised of the treaty and have agreed to uphold it."

"They?" My brow wrinkled in confusion. I had only picked up one stink. My nose had never failed me before. I took a deep breath, the leech stink caused me to lose my breath instantly, but there was something else in the air. A sweet smell of lilies, patchouli and roses. A smell that was almost human.

"Tessa and Natalia. Natalia will be staying but Tessa will be leaving us tonight." Carlisle explained. "Natalia is..._special_ and Tessa, knowing our unique gifts and protective nature have asked that we care for her."

"Special like Edward and Alice?"

Carlisle laughed. "Even more special than both of them combined."

My eyes widened. "Can I meet her?" I could've kicked myself for sounding too eager. "You know so I can get her scent so the pack doesn't attack her."

"Of course." Carlisle took a step back and motioned with his arm for me to enter the house.

I stepped in and headed up the stairs to the family room.

"Hey Jake!" Renesmee pranced over to me and wrapped her tiny arms around my waist. She had grown nearly a foot since the last time I saw her, and that was just a few days ago, before Edward and Bella had taken her to Florida to see Renee and Phil. "I have a new cousin!"

I picked my little human/vampire hybrid imprint up and swung her around in the air. "Congrats Nessie!" Just as I placed Renesmee back on her feet, I heard a gasp from behind me and that's when all hell broke loose...

~Leah's POV~

"So tell me about your pack." I leaned against Canon, resting my head on his shoulder.

"It's small. There's only four of us. Myself, I'm the alpha, Kyle is my beta and my best friend since we were born. He was my neighbor when we lived on the Makah Rez then after his parents died he moved to our house, then when we moved to the Cree Rez, he came with us. Max is Gram's grandnephew or something like that. He was born on a Choctaw Rez but was adopted by Gram's niece after his parents got sent to jail. It was just us for six years until Ashley phased a few weeks ago. What about yours?"

"Well, it's difficult to explain. We have one huge pack that pretty much functions as two. We don't do much together besides run patrols. Normally I hang out with my little brother Seth, our should be alpha that decided he was ok with being beta Jacob, Embry, Quil and three new wolves David, Brandon and Joshua." I noticed that he'd winced when I said Quil's name. I made a mental note to address that later.

"And the others?"

"Sam, my ex, is the alpha, Jared's third in command, then there's Paul the hot head, Brady, Collin, Liam and Nicholas. Brady and Collin are pretty young so they just kinda float wherever, trying to please everybody. And Paul imprinted on Jacob's sister so he's a floater too."

He clenched his teeth. "Your ex?" I could see a fire burning in his eyes. It was cute but I didn't dare laugh. I gently stroked his arm letting him know that he had nothing to worry about.

"Yes, my ex, he phased, disappeared for a few weeks and came back a totally different person. Long story short, things didn't last with us obviously, he imprinted on my cousin Emily, broke up with me that same day and after a series of unfortunate events they lived happily ever after."

"Wow."

I nodded. "Oh and we have this little alliance with a _family_ of bloodsuckers."

"You what?!" he yelled. His body temperature seemed to increase by about ten degrees when I said that. I swore I could see little flames dancing in his eyes. He started to shake. "I don't want you anywhere near them."

"Don't worry, I'm not around them any more than I have to be. See, a long time ago, before either of us was born, a few of them were caught hunting on our land, but they were hunting animals not humans. They claimed to be something different and after some discussion, a treaty was made. They could remain and we wouldn't expose them to the pale faces as long as they stayed off our land and didn't bite a human for any reason. They left shortly after that and returned about four years ago. Their _family_ has grown a little bit but it was decided that the treaty would remain in tact. Well, kinda."

"What do you mean kinda?" he growled. I rubbed his arm again to soothe him.

"Well, the police chief's daughter moved to town, fell in love with one of the leeches, played with Jacob's feelings, caused a bunch of unnecessary headaches for everyone involved. She eventually married him and somehow got knocked up on their honeymoon while she was still human. Sam wanted to kill her since nobody knew what was growing inside of her, Jacob was still in love, I guess, and he didn't want to harm her. That's pretty much the reason the packs split."

"So the treaty goes out the window because some chick couldn't keep her legs closed?"

I laughed. I had never looked at it that way but when I heard him say it, I guess that was really the reason. I'm pretty sure there are a few Quileutes rolling over in their graves because of that. "Well, after she had the baby, she was dying so Jacob gave Edward, her leech of a husband, permission to bite her, to try to save her. We all thought she died, so Jacob went to kill the baby but instead the idiot imprinted on her. Thus a new, kinda unspoken, treaty was made with the packs and the leech _family_."

"Why do you keep calling them a family?"

I shrugged. "That's really the only way you can honestly look at them. They don't behave like normal vampires. The leader, Carlisle, is a doctor at the town hospital..."

He cut me off. " He's a doctor? For humans?"

"Yep. The man's self control is amazing. Not one incident. His wife, Esme, she's pretty nice. I still keep my distance because we're natural enemies of course, but if it wasn't for that, I could actually see myself liking her. It's kinda impossible not to like her. Then there's Blondie and her mate Bear, Rosalie and Emmett. She's as shallow as a puddle and he's a big overgrown kid. Alice is the most tolerable next to Esme and Carlisle, but a bit annoying with her fashion advice. Luckily she doesn't try to impose it on me... too much." I pulled at the hem of the dress I was wearing. After the second day of not showing up, I'd made the mistake of asking for her help and although she couldn't "see" anything, she suggested that I keep trying and wear something nice. "Her mate is Jasper, he's the weirdest of them all. Doesn't talk much, not that I'd have much to say to him anyways. Always appears to be in pain. Edward married the human and they have a daughter named Renesmee."

"Rene-what?" he asked. A familiar confused look crossed his face. The same look that everybody's face held when you said her name.

"Ruh-nes-may." I spoke slowly then laughed. "We just call her Nessie."

He shook his head, taking in all of the information I'd just given him. It was a lot to deal with, even for me and I was caught right in the middle of it.

"So you play nice with the enemy?" He let out a stifled laugh.

I shrugged. "As much as I can. I guess they're not that bad once you get over the smell."

"That's one smell I don't think I'd ever really get over." he laughed. "Not that I've had to endure it much. We only had the one red head run through our territory a few times. We tried to catch her, but she was fast. Really fast. Haven't seen her in a long time though. Maybe she moved on. The others we normally run into outside of our territory or in Alaska where we spend quite a bit of time."

I almost choked. Canon had encountered Victoria and possibly the Denalis. "Edward, one of the leeches, killed her. She was after Bella, who was still human at the time. Her mate, James, tried to kill Bella, that's another story in itself, but anyways, Edward and his family killed James and the red head wanted to kill Bella for revenge. She created this whole army of newborns and we took them out with ease."

Canon shook his head in disbelief. "Talk about six degrees of separation."

I knew there was more than the red head that separated us. Canon had winced when I said Quil's name, not to mention that he was raised on the Makah reservation. Part of me wondered if he was related to Embry while the other part of me was praying that he wasn't. I wanted something that she had absolutely no ties to. Something that I could call my own and she couldn't lay claim to. As I sat there battling with my inner demons, a familiar stench invaded my space. Canon must have smelled it too because before I could get a word our of my mouth, he jumped from the boulder we were sitting on and shifted mid-air. I jumped up and followed suit.

On the other side of the clearing, four cloaked vampires appeared, dragging something behind them. I recognized them immediately.

Alec. Jane. Demetri. Felix. My heart sank. The something they were dragging was Sam.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks to all of the readers...even if you didn't leave a review/favorite/follow I appreciate you taking the time to read my story. Thanks to the new reviews/favorites/follows: brookeyhoneybee, realistic-myth, Rainbor123, sydneyswansalf, TheRYU, LexieGirl15, lilyrose-182, malfoysmirks, missminniemouse1996, KitaLuv, Captain B. Izzy, jennygirl1996, MoeBop, Larissa1997 and kitsunekiri.**

Chapter Seven

~Rosalie's POV~

This mangy mutt just couldn't control himself. I could tell by the way he stared at Natalia with his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his glazed over eyes that he had just imprinted on her. I lunged for him, but Edward knocked me out of the way. I flew into the piano, breaking it in half. I instantly jumped up into a defensive crouch. Emmett lunged for Edward with a menacing growl, but Carlisle and Jasper caught him before he could attack. Edward was attempting to restrain Bella who was lunging towards me, no doubt ready to go for my throat. Jacob was standing protectively in front of Embry and Embry, well he still had that stupid euphoric look on his face. Esme just stood staring at her piano, probably trying to figure out how she could make Edward and I rebuild it. And Alice was crouched down in a defensive stance next to Jasper, staring back and forth between me and Bella. I knew that she'd never be able to attack either of us unless we went after Jazz. He was safe. My object of rage at that moment was of a different beast.

"You've got a lot of nerves mutt!" I hissed, turning my attention towards the _thing_ that I was actually angry with.

"Rose!" Esme snapped at me. "We have company, so behave!"

I ignored her and continued to stare at Embry. She was always so forgiving of these animals and their inconsiderate behavior. Natalia had been in our house for less than an hour and had been under my care for even less than that. Yet here was this thing, laying claim to something that was mine. I was livid.

"Behave?" I yelled. "You're telling me to behave? I'm not the one coming into someone else's home, marking people!"

In the blink of an eye, Esme was standing directly in front of me. I had never seen her so angry, yet here she was looking as though she were ready to snap my head clean off my shoulders. She stared at me, a fire burning deep in her golden eyes. Her lips curled back over her teeth as she hissed at me. I took a step back and ran my hands down the front of my shirt, smoothing out the imaginary wrinkles.

"Sorry." I mumbled. I walked to the other side of the room and stood by Emmett's side. He lovingly placed his arm around my shoulder as he stared menacingly at Edward.

"Tessa my dear, I truly apologize for what you've had to witness here today." Esme said as she tore her gaze from me. She turned to face Tessa. "Some of us have yet to learn proper manners. Allow me to introduce Jacob and Embry. They are a part of our _extended_ family" She motioned to each of them.

Jacob waved and mumbled a polite hello while Embry just mumbled incoherently, still staring all goo-goo eyed at Natalia.

Tessa turned her nose up at them. "Your extended family consists of _werewolves?_" I could see her eyeing Natalia like she was contemplating picking her up and running from the house with her.

"Shape-shifters." Carlisle corrected her.

"Our enemy nonetheless." Tessa cleared her throat. "Maybe I should make other arrangements for Natalia. I may still be owed a favor or two by Eleazar and Carmen Denali or possibly Corrine and Michael in Vancouver."

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Embry's head snap in Tessa's direction. He body began to tremble as he growled and took a step towards her. Jacob grabbed his arm. His copper complexion flushed red as he stared at Tessa, fighting to contain the wolf that was aching to be released.

"No!" Natalia and I yelled at the same time.

Natalia pushed a strand of jet black hair from her face and stared directly at Embry. "I want to stay." She cleared her throat and smiled. "I need to stay."

Great. Just fucking great.

~Embry's POV~

It took every ounce of energy in me not to fall to my knees when I locked eyes with Natalia. She was the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid eyes on and she was all mine. I, Embry Call, had finally imprinted. I was oblivious to everything and everyone else around me. I knew they were talking and I knew that part of that conversation was about me, but at that moment I didn't care. Natalia had my undivided attention. The only thing I heard was the leech she'd arrived with suggesting that she leave. It took Jake and every ounce of will power in me not to phase and rip her filthy head from her body. I wasn't too sure of who she was to Natalia and I didn't want to do anything to alienate her.

When Natalia said that she wanted, no needed to stay, I couldn't have been happier. This would just make my job easier and well, since Tessa had already broken the news that I was a shifter, the only thing I had to focus on was getting her to fall in love with me. By the way she was staring at me, I didn't expect for that to be too hard.

I didn't want to tear my eyes from Natalia's until I heard four words that made my skin crawl.

"The Volturi." Alice gasped as she stared wide eyed at Jasper. "They're here."

Groans filled the air. Her next words nearly knocked the wind out of me.

"They have Sam." Alice said, her voice trailed off slightly and if I didn't know any better I would've thought I saw tears in her eyes. "And Leah."

Holy fuck.

~Alice's POV~

This was all my fault. I should've seen them coming, but somehow Natalia was interfering with my visions. She was worse than Renesmee had been when Bella was pregnant with her. Not only were my visions fuzzy like an out of tune television but when they did come through, it was broken and choppy, bits and snippets that didn't make much sense. This was not good.

"I know where they are. It's where Leah's been going every night to meet this wolf to see if he's her imprint." I said, slipping on my shoes. "I'll lead the way. Embry, can you stay here with Natalia and Renesmee please?"

I wasn't sure how many of them were in town so I didn't want Renesmee and Natalia to be unprotected. Jake said that he'd call and have two of the newer wolves in the pack and Quil stay with them. I felt at ease.

"If he's staying then so am I." Rosalie pouted. She crossed her arms over her chest and moved closer to Natalia. I shot her a dirty look, but we didn't have time to argue. Lives were at stake here.

Emmett cracked his knuckles. "Well babe, I'm not sitting this one out."

Rose shrugged as she flopped down on the couch and picked up a magazine.

"We don't have much time." I shouted, running out of the back door.

Jacob had already pulled out his phone and called the rest of the pack to let them know what was going on. In an instant he bounded out of the back door and phased as soon as he jumped over the balcony. I ducked to avoid him ripping my head off. He quickly rubbed up against me, his wolfy version of sorry, then took off into the woods. I raced ahead of him to lead the way. Leah and I had talked briefly, a little earlier that day when she had asked for my advice about what to wear so I knew exactly where we were going.

We ran as fast as our legs would carry us, and the wolves ran even faster. Edward did what he could with keeping the lines of communication open, but with the rate of speed we were running, it was hard. As we got closer to the spot, I could smell their scents. I wanted to be thankful that there were only four of them, but the fact that two of the four were Jane and Alec, I was a lot less grateful. Luckily we had Bella with us. Her shield would help to a certain extent. If it came down to a fight, she could only shield one of us and there was no doubt in my mind that Edward would be that one. Hopefully the wolves could take down the twins before things got too bad.

When I noticed that Tessa had decided to join us my mind eased a little bit. She possessed the gift of temporary power mimicry. It wasn't permanent, but it lasted long enough to do some serious damage and that made her just as deadly as Jane and Alec, maybe even deadlier.

Leah and Sam's scent got stronger and there was another wolf scent mixed in with them. She must have finally found him. I couldn't help but smile. I was a sucker for love. I glanced over briefly at Jasper. Yes, love is a beautiful thing. My smile faded just as quickly as it had appeared. A pain filled howl ripped through the air. We were too late.

~Canon's POV~

I fought to break through Leah's thoughts, but she was fighting me. I could see the fear in her eyes but it wasn't until I noticed the wolf the biggest vampire was dragging that I realized why. Based on his size I could tell he was a shifter and based on Leah's reaction, I knew that he was a part of her pack. I growled and nipped at her hind leg, while still struggling to get into her head. It would be easier to take down the leeches if we could communicate. She glared back at me with a look of dread and sadness in her eyes. I wanted to cry.

_It's The Volturi and they have Sam._ Her voice sprang into my thoughts.

_The Vol-who?_ - Me

_I'll explain later. If there is a later. Watch out for the little blonde bitch. She can make you feel immense pain just by looking at you. And the boy emits some kinda numbing gas from his hands. The other two are the muscle. _- Leah

"Well, well well, what do we have here?" the little blonde one sang as she came unnecessarily close. I took a step in front of Leah, nudging her slightly behind me.

_Canon, please. Don't provoke her. _- Leah

I could tell by her voice that she was truly afraid. I glanced back at her very quickly and that's when an immense amount of pain entered my body. I instantly dropped to the ground. I couldn't move or scream and I could barely breathe. Leah instantly lowered herself to her belly and began nudging me with her nose. Her howling and whimpering causing me more pain than whatever the blonde vampire was doing to me.

"Well this doesn't look like a fair fight at all." I didn't recognize the voice, but it was extremely appealing with a high musical undertone to it. Another vampire.

From the corner of my eye I could see that we had been joined by at least five other vampires and a bunch of wolves. This had to be Leah's pack and their _pet_ leeches. The pain I was feeling began to dull and somehow I was able to stand back on my own feet. Leah stood beside me and bared her teeth at the vampire that had caused me so much pain. A growl erupted deep from within her as she moved towards the small coven.

"Leah don't." A copper haired vamp pleaded. He stared at Leah in a way that made me extremely uncomfortable. "If you attack them, Sam will die."

Leah's head jerked towards him, teeth still bared, hackles raised. Her gaze flickered between me, the small coven and the bronze haired boy. I fought to hear Leah's thoughts but the presence of her pack or the vampire's attack must have kicked me out of her mind.

The bronze haired vampire pressed his lips together in a hard line. He closed his eyes, clenching and unclenching his fist. "Yes, Leah, if it were Bella I'd want to kill her too but..." He let out an irritated sigh as though Leah had cut him off mid sentence. "Leah I understand but that won't solve anything." He paused for another few seconds. "Leah, be reasonable. Sam's life is at stake here and Canon is fine." This freak was reading her mind.

He looked over at me with a smirk before continuing his one sided conversation with Leah. Finally, she looked back at me, her eyes full of sorrow and remorse as she returned to my side. She nuzzled my cheek lightly then licked my muzzle. I licked her back.

"Jane, Alec, Felix, Demetri." A golden haired vampire stepped forward with his arms extended, palms facing towards the sky as though he were looking for guidance from God. "To what do we owe this honor?"

I snorted. Honor my ass.

"Aro sent us to check on Renesmee's... _progress_."

"She's progressing just fine. Tell Aro thanks but no thanks for his..._concern._" A brown haired girl replied as she took a step forward. Her words were strained and I noticed that the bronzed haired boy had taken her hand in his. So this was the chick that couldn't keep her legs closed. Kinda plain.

The bronze haired boy looked back at me and hissed. Leah growled at him. After a brief stare down with Leah, he turned his attention back to the vampires on the other side of the field.

"We'd like to see her." One of the taller vampires spoke.

"Over my dead body!" The brown haired girl roared.

"That can be arranged dear Bella." The deadly blonde smirked. "Felix."

The other muscled vampire flashed towards us, but before he could get a hand on the brown haired girl, a huge muscle bound vampire on our side had him in a headlock. I could hear the metallic screeching sound that a vampire's head and neck make as they are being separated.

"Emmett don't!" three vampires screeched all at once, but it was too late. Emmett stood with the other vampire's head in his hand, dangling it by the hair as the body fell to the ground in a heap.

I could tell by the way everybody's faces dropped that this was going to end badly...very badly.

Leah looked over at me and whimpered. I was right. We were about to die.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks to Rachelalicexx, Mmakie, Tatah Nunes, angelchild001 and PyroGrl94 for the new favorites/follows/reviews. I really appreciate it. And I must thank the person that inspired me to write the story because she threatened my life :-( So thank you AGAIN Livvy.**

**Chapter Eight**

**~Embry's POV~**

I couldn't stop pacing the floor. It had been nearly four hours since Jake, the pack and the Cullens had gone to rescue Leah and Sam and none of them had returned. I had taken the girls to Edward and Bella's cabin because the main house had too many doors and windows that a bloodsucker could sneak in and out of. I didn't doubt that I'd smell them before they got too close, but I also didn't want to take any chances, especially when it came to the safety of two imprints. And frankly Rosalie was getting on my last nerve. I had come close to snapping her head off twice in the first hour so I figured it would be better if we just left. She had protested Natalia leaving, but after a few sad faces from Nessie, and a couple of angry growls from me, she gave in.

I paced back and forth in front of the large window in the living room, occasionally glancing over at Natalia. She was seated at the piano with Nessie, who was playing the song that Edward had written for Bella when they first met. Her eyes were closed and her head tilted back slightly as she listened to the sweet melody. God she was beautiful.

I cleared my throat and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She glanced over at me and smiled, her grayish blue eyes twinkled under the moonlight that poured in through the window. I melted. Nessie tugged gently on her sleeve, recapturing her attention and I reluctantly shifted my gaze out of the window. I was waiting on Quil, Liam and Nicholas to return. They had ran the perimeter non-stop for the first two hours and when they hadn't picked up anymore leech stink, they started doing runs every forty-five minutes. That helped me relax a little. At least I was keeping Nessie and Natalia safe.

"Embry." Nessie called my name softly.

"Yeah Ness?"

She stopped playing and turned around to face me. "I'm thirsty."

"I'll get you some juice." I smiled, making my way to the kitchen. She grabbed my arm and shook her head as I walked past.

"No, I'm _thirsty_." She grabbed her throat and stared at me, her eyes pleading with me to understand what she needed.

Oh. Ummm. Oh. That kind of thirsty. I really didn't know what to say or do. I'd never actually hunted with a vampire, well vampire hybrid, before. "Well, do you guys have some umm, you know..." I was struggling to say the word blood. I know it was normal for them but it still kind of freaked me out that she could sip it from a cup like it was apple juice.

"No. I usually go hunting with mommy and daddy or Jake, but we haven't done that since before we left for Florida last week."

I ran my fingers through my hair, unsure of what to do. Jake would beat me to a bloody pulp if I didn't get her something to drink, but on the other hand, he'd kill me if I took her hunting and she got hurt.

"I can get Quil to catch you something. What do you want?" I moved towards the door. "Or I can call Bim...errr Rosalie and see if she'll come take you." I tried not to speak badly about Nessie's family in her presence, even the ones I wasn't too fond of. She was innocent and didn't understand the dynamics of the pack's complicated relationship with her family. All she knew is that she wanted everyone she loved to get along. And for her sake, and Jake's peace of mind, we did.

Natalia pulled her hair into a ponytail and stood up. It wasn't until then that I noticed how small she was compared to me. I was just a few inches shy of being seven feet tall and she couldn't have been anymore than five foot three. "I can take her." She said quietly, reaching for Nessie's hand. "I'm feeling a little thirsty myself."

"You're a bloodsucker too?" I snapped. That so did not come out right. Nessie's head snapped up and her and Natalia stared at me with tinges of hurt in their eyes. Good going asshole. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that girls. I just...I'm an idiot. I'm so sorry."

"Sometimes. I'll explain when we get back." She grabbed Nessie's coat from the sofa and helped her into it.

"I think I should go with you." I wasn't comfortable with the idea of watching them hunt, but I couldn't let them go alone either. I'd literally die if anything happened to either of them.

Natalia held her hand up and it started to glow blue. With a quick flick of her wrist, a stream of flames shot from her hand and landed into the fireplace, immediately setting the logs inside on fire. "I think I can protect both of us just fine." She walked over to me and placed her hand on my cheek. It was extremely warm, even to me. "Besides, you look a little tired. Take a nap and we'll be back before you know it."

All I could do was nod as I watched her slip out of the door with Nessie tucked gently under her arm. I walked over to the window and watched them disappear deeper into the forest. What the hell have I gotten myself into?

I stared impatiently at the clock, the girls had been gone for over an hour, which meant that it had been nearly six since the pack and the Cullens had gone to rescue Sam and Leah. I felt guilty for not being there with them, but at the same time I knew that what I was doing was just as important. Just as I was about to go out looking for them, they walked through the door laughing and joking like old friends. Nessie was clutching the stuffed wolf that Jake had given her to take to Florida. They must have stopped by the main house on their way back. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw Rosalie walk in right behind them.

"Incompetent mutt." She mumbled, snatching a car magazine from the table before flopping down on the sofa.

I shook my head. I wasn't in the mood to argue. "How was the hunting?"

"It was great!" Nessie beamed. "You should've seen Tally. She was awesome! She caught two mountain lions at the same time. Even daddy can't do that." Nessie wiggled out of her coat then curled on the sofa next to the bimbo. Rosalie tossed the magazine back on the table then scooped Nessie into her arms. She leaned her head against blondie's shoulder and yawned.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Natalia slip out of the front door. A few seconds later there was a soft thud above my head. She must have gone up to the roof. I opened my mouth to tell Rosalie where I was going but changed my mind. She wasn't in my pack and she damn sure wasn't the boss of me. It wasn't any of her business where I was going. I crept out the door, quietly closing it behind me so I didn't wake up Nessie. I jumped into a nearby pine tree then made my way to the roof. Natalia was sitting cross legged on the roof with her back to me, staring up at the moon. She looked so peaceful.

"So, you drink blood huh?" I asked, sitting next to her.

She nodded.

I sighed. "About earlier, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It was just surprising to find out that you, you know, drink blood. I didn't know you were a hybrid. I guess I should've figured that out since you were with a vamp. Was that your mom?"

"No, she's a family friend. And what makes you think I'm a hybrid?"

"Well, you don't smell like a vampire, you're warm, even warmer than me and you drink blood sometimes. So I kinda just figured you were."

"I'm not a hybrid both of my parents are human as far as I know. I never met my father but from what my mother said, he's a human. No damn body can figure out what I am. That's why Tessa brought me here. She thinks that Carlisle can figure it out." She closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I drink blood, I'm faster and stronger than any vampire I've ever met. My body temperature can be as high as two hundred degrees and in the blink of an eye it drops below zero. I can shoot fire from my hands and freeze things with my breath. I can move the ground and create whirlwinds with my mind. I'm just a freak of nature."

"Has it always been that way?" I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her that it didn't matter. I loved her no matter what she was.

"Yep. For both of the confused years of my life."

"Both!?"

She nodded and more tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was born two years ago. Not in the vampire sense of being born, I mean actually born into this world. See why I say I'm a freak of nature?" She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "At least Nessie has a reason for her accelerated growth. I can't explain why I went from being a newborn baby to being physically, mentally and emotionally a teenager in two short years. I can't explain any of my life."

I draped my arm casually across her shoulder, giving her the option to move closer and when she did, I pulled her as close to me as I could then lightly kissed the top of her head. "We'll figure this out." I didn't know what else to say. "I promise."

**~Leah's POV~**

For the past few hours we'd been standing here going back and forth with the three remaining bloodsuckers. None of them dared to attack after what Emmett had done to Felix. He still dangled the head in his hands, occasionally tossing it back and forth like a volleyball with Brady and Collin. That didn't please the other three members of the Volturi, or Carlisle and Esme.

"Aro is not going to be pleased by this." Jane chided. "Felix was one of his favorites. Many lives will be lost because of this."

"Aro is a sensible man. He will understand that Felix posed a threat to our family and Emmett acted accordingly. His first instinct was to protect his sister." Carlisle replied. "Besides, we all know he is very fond of several members of our family, mainly Bella. Do you think he would've been pleased had we allowed Felix to destroy her? And how would he feel knowing that you ordered her destruction?"

Jane moved towards Carlisle but Alec quickly grabbed her arm. I let out a wolfy laugh. I wasn't exactly sure what she was planning on doing but with there being three of them and ten huge wolves and eight bloodsuckers on our side. They didn't stand a chance. Her power was even useless against Bella's shield.

_Edward, why are we still here?_ Hopefully the leech was paying attention to my thoughts. There were so many others around that I didn't think he'd hear me.

"He's trying to get them to understand that Felix posed a threat and that's the only reason Emmett reacted the way he did. Hopefully this all ends shortly."

I growled. This better end shortly.

"Return Sam to us so that we may all leave in peace." Carlisle suggested. "We'll return Felix and then we can all go to our homes. We've been here for hours, yet we've accomplished nothing."

Alec leaned over and whispered something to Jane, then to Demetri. Carlisle turned towards Emmett and held out his hands. The big goof dropped the head into Carlisle's hands with a huge grin on his face. Demetri took a few steps forward then dropped Sam into a heap in the middle of the clearing. He landed on the ground with a sickening thud. I whimpered and Canon growled at me, nipping at my ear. I ignored his jealousy. I didn't have any feelings left for Sam other than the sibling feelings that came along with being a part of the pack. Carlisle scooped Felix's body up from the ground then delivered him, severed head and all to Demetri. Jasper and Edward stepped forward to collect Sam.

"There may still be time to reattach his head. I've seen it done once before. It's going to take quite a bit of venom from the three of you and lots of patience. It can take a few days for his body to reanimate. And while I have seen a vampire survive a beheading, I make no promises that he will survive. I truly wish this could've been avoided." Carlisle said before returning to Esme's side. "Give Aro my apologies once again."

Demetri simply nodded before returning to Jane and Alec. They slowly walked backwards, making their way out of the clearing. Jane stopped and looked from Bella to me then back at Bella. Her red eyes trying to pierce into our souls. She cocked her head to the side then focused her attention on Carlisle.

"This isn't over." she smirked. "Not by a long shot." In a flurry of snow the three of them disappeared into the night.

"Well, that was fun." Emmett laughed. Nobody laughed with him.

"Edward and Jasper will transport Sam home. It will be quicker and easier than any of you shifting and attempting to carry him." Carlisle spoke, his voice laced with worry and regret. "Is it ok to cross the treaty line?"

Jake nodded.

"Leah?" Alice peeked over at me with pleading eyes. I already knew what she wanted. Now that the fight was over, she wanted to meet Canon. Typical Alice. Such a sucker for romance. I motioned for her to come over. I really couldn't talk so I didn't know how I was going to introduce them.

"Canon this is Alice. Alice that's Canon." Edward mumbled before he nodded to Jasper and they took off with Sam.

Alice laughed. "Nice to meet you Canon." She leaned down closer to my ear, even though whatever she whispered to me, Canon would still hear. "He's so beautiful, Leah. Congratulations." She lightly ran her hand across my head then took off in the direction of her mate and brother. Now I have leech stink in my fur. Great.

I snuggled against Canon, burying my muzzle in the fur on his shoulder. Even with all the leeches around, he still smelled amazing. And once again, as though nothing had happened, I lost myself in him.

"Leah, I think it would be best if Canon went back to La Push with you tonight." Esme suggested. "We're not exactly sure if they're leaving the area or sticking around until they attempt to reanimate Felix. I'd really feel a lot better and I know you would too if he followed us back."

I looked over at Canon and he simply nodded. Things just got a little more interesting.


End file.
